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For one day at least, the glitz and grit of American politics has become the talk of Canada.
Co-writer, director and star George Clooney has brought his presidential primary drama "The Ides of March" to the Toronto International Film Festival, with the big red carpet premiere set for Friday evening. Before that, Clooney and co-stars Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, and Max Minghella will take the stage to answer questions in a packed house press conference.
The film centers on a tense week before the Democratic presidential primary in Ohio, with Clooney as a would-be political savior closing in on the nomination. Boasting campaign artwork and rhetoric clearly modeled on President Obama's 2008 run, his lead seems safe until behind-the-scenes jealousy between his campaign manager (Hoffman) and whiz kid media manager (Gosling) threatens to blow up his entire operation.
A morally ambiguous window into the seedy machinations that pull the levers of government, the film is tipped as an Oscar contender. Check below for all the latest updates from the press conference, with quotes as exact as typing in real-time will allow.